Epidemiology and molecular typing of multidrug-resistant bacteria in tertiary hospitals and nursing homes in Flanders, Belgium

Stefanie van Kleef-van Koeveringe; Veerle Matheeussen; Annette Schuermans; Sien De Koster; Natascha Perales Selva; Hilde Jansens; Dieter De Coninck; Katrien De Bruyne; Klaas Mensaert; Marjolein Kluytmans-van den Bergh; Jan Kluytmans; Herman Goossens; Wouter Dhaeze; Isabel Leroux-Roels; i-4-1-Health Study Group

doi:10.1007/s10096-023-04699-2

Epidemiology and molecular typing of multidrug-resistant bacteria in tertiary hospitals and nursing homes in Flanders, Belgium

Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2024 Jan;43(1):187-194. doi: 10.1007/s10096-023-04699-2. Epub 2023 Nov 16.

Authors

Stefanie van Kleef-van Koeveringe^{1

2}, Veerle Matheeussen^{3

4}, Annette Schuermans⁵, Sien De Koster⁴, Natascha Perales Selva³, Hilde Jansens⁶, Dieter De Coninck⁷, Katrien De Bruyne⁷, Klaas Mensaert⁷, Marjolein Kluytmans-van den Bergh^{8

9}, Jan Kluytmans¹⁰, Herman Goossens^{3

4}, Wouter Dhaeze¹¹, Isabel Leroux-Roels¹²; i-4-1-Health Study Group

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium. Stefanie.vanKoeveringe@uza.be.
² Department of Medical Microbiology, Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute (VAXINFECTIO), University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium. Stefanie.vanKoeveringe@uza.be.
³ Laboratory of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium.
⁴ Department of Medical Microbiology, Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute (VAXINFECTIO), University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
⁵ Department of Infection Control and Epidemiology, University Hospital Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
⁶ Department of Infection Control, University Hospital Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium.
⁷ bioMérieux, Augmented Diagnostics, Industrial Microbiology, Applied Maths NV, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium.
⁸ Department of Infection Control, Amphia Hospital, Breda, The Netherlands.
⁹ Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
¹⁰ Microvida Laboratory for Microbiology, Amphia Hospital, Breda, and Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
¹¹ Department prevention, Agentschap Zorg en Gezondheid, Leuven, Belgium.
¹² Laboratory of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.

Abstract

This study aimed to map MDRO carriage and potential transmission within and between three Flemish tertiary care hospitals and their neighbouring nursing homes. A cross-sectional MDRO prevalence survey was organized between October 2017 and February 2019. Perianal swabs were cultured for detection of MDRO. Determination of clonal relatedness based on wgMLST allelic profiles was performed. The prevalence of MDRO in Belgian hospitals and NHs is on the rise, compared to previous studies, and transmission in and between institutions is observed. These results re-emphasize the need for a healthcare network-wide infection prevention strategy in which WGS of MDRO strains can be supportive.

Keywords: MDRO; Molecular typing; Screening; Transmission; Whole-genome sequencing; wgMLST.

MeSH terms

Bacteria
Belgium / epidemiology
Cross Infection* / epidemiology
Cross Infection* / microbiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial
Humans
Molecular Typing
Nursing Homes*
Tertiary Care Centers